Storm
by AJGranger13
Summary: Hermione's life is no longer the fairy tale it used to be. Ron's dependence on alcohol has made her life rather difficult. She knows it's only a matter of time before the storm within her home strikes even harder than before. Rated for maybe milder language in upcoming chapters.


**A/N: Just a little idea I had while there was a storm brewing outside. This may be similar to a story also on this site, but they have stopped posting on FanFicton, leaving all works in progress unfinished. The idea/plot is similar, but it is by no means a copy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters who were so wonderfully created by J.K. Rowling.**

She traced her fingers along the edges of the bruise that was starting to form. He had hit her once again. It was something he always did while intoxicated. She learned to just accept it. Hermione didn't have the heart to tell Harry that his best mate was beating his wife almost every weekend. This was just between her and Ron, and she intended to keep it that way.

Hermione shivered in her silk light pink nightie as she watched the raindrops fall down the window as little rivers. The sound of the fast falling water and the soft rolling thunder calmed her. Ron had crashed on the bed, and he smelled terribly of firewhisky. Hermione was sitting in the bay window, with a calico cat on her lap. She had named the cat Tonks to remember a dear friend she had lost in the Battle of Hogwarts. The cat was now five years old, and loved Hermione dearly. She couldn't help but smile as Tonks' whiskers twitched in her sleep, signifying a dream.

She petted her cat absent mindedly as she thought about where her life was at. After going back and completing their final year at Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron had decided to marry. Life treated them well for a few years after that. They both became assistants at the Ministry of Magic, and soon climbed up the ladder in their careers. Ron was one of the top Aurors, and Hermione had made it to the top of the assistant chain. She was the top assistant to the Minister herself, Saranda Jenkins. The job payed well, and Hermione absolutely loved it. She and the minister had become close friends after a few months.

However, Ron seemed to not handle the stress of being an Auror very well. He liked working with his best friend, but he had a hard time coming home sober on Fridays. he and Harry would go to any pub in Diagon Alley and just drink the night away. Ron always came home completely wasted, and he never failed to find something wrong with his wife or something she had done. His dinner had gotten to cold, the house wasn't clean enough, or she spent too much money were just a few. He would start with one smack, and then he did it again when her eyes started to water. After a while, she became numb to the abuse, which only infuriated him more. There was no winning when he was like that. It was only a matter of time before he started breaking her bones.

Lightening lit the sky and jerked Hermione out of her trance. The load crack of thunder that followed made Tonks leap off Hermione's lap and scurry under the bed. Ron hadn't budged an inch. Hermione stood up and stretched, wincing as she pulled on the bruises on her shoulders and arms. She decided to investigate the damage in the bathroom mirror. She closed her eyes before turning on the light.

When she looked in the large rectangular mirror, she noticed that a lot of the red hand prints had cleared from her complexion. However, there was a slight black tint to her left cheek, but she could easily cover that with make-up. That was one thing she did that her parents had, she left any minor healing to her body. She didn't need to use magic for everything. She silently hissed as she lowered the cup sleeves of her nightgown. She would certainly use minimal magic on this bruise. It had formed in a nice lump, and it was as dark as the stormy sky outside. She pulled out her wand and muttered a spell that would lighten the hue and reduce the swelling. She performed the same spell on her arms. She wouldn't be able to cover the bruises there with a sweater in the middle of July.

She then flexed her fingers and toes, only to find that, despite the pressure Ron had put on them, the weren't broken or fractured. The bruise on her large toe would be easily explained with a stubbed toe story if anyone asked. She lifted her nightgown up and over her shoulders, resting it on her neck like a cowl. She turned and craned her neck to look at her back. She was no longer stunned by what Ron had done. She had at least three bruises along her shoulder blades, and a line of black and blue traced along her spine. She use the charm that she had used on her shoulders knowing she could easily cover the evidence that was there.

Hermione sighed and draped her nightgown over herself when her inspection was over. He hadn't done as much damage as usual. Her head was almost always the main target for his unnecessary outbursts. This time she had no lumps to her cranium and her lips weren't split. She went back into their bedroom to find Tonks curled up in Hermione's spot next to Ron on the bed. She smiled and walked to the bay window to claim her other spot in the room.

Ron had added the window just for Hermione when they moved in three years ago. They had first lived in a cozy little flat above a muggle bar, because that was all they could afford at the time. When they received promotions and raises, they purchased the house that was directly in between the houses they grew up in. Hermione hadn't brought her parents back from Australia after the war. She didn't know how to put the memories back into their heads. She didn't want to ruin their happiness a second time. Ron had suggested they buy her old home, but she resisted, saying that it would only depress her. The only thing she missed, however, was the bay window in her room. When she told Ron that, he made one in their room, making his wife extremely happy.

Hermione sighed and place her forehead on the cool window. Those were happy times in her marriage. That was well before mock death eaters came out of the woodwork to make Ron's job a living hell. Unfortunately, it had leaked into their home life. Hermione watched the rain pelt the road in front of their house from her two-story window. The wind had picked up and was bending down the tops of the trees. There was another crash of thunder and the rain came down even heavier than before. She hoped for better weather in the coming week. Her and Ron had plans to spend the day with Harry on a picnic. But no matter what she hoped for, she knew the forecast for the next Friday night. She would have to suffer through another storm.

**A/N: I know, the end seems a little choppy, and I'm sorry, but it was taking forever just to get this chapter out. And, yes, this is a multi-chap. story, so I will be adding more. I understand i have other stories to update and I have two more in notebooks I haven't even typed out yet. I will get working on those, I promise. But I couldn't pass on what I thought was a good idea for a story! And yes, it's still storming at my house. ;)**


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